New Zealand Breaking News

Trimble announces that the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited (GNS) and Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) have jointly purchased 40 Trimble NetR9™ GNSS reference station receivers as part of a project to upgrade the LINZ PositioNZ network to multi-constellation GNSS and real-time data distribution capability. LINZ is a state agency responsible for geodetic infrastructure and land title system in New Zealand.

The LINZ network of reference stations provides accurate control points for monitoring and developing the geospatial infrastructure of the country, conducting geoscience research as part of the GeoNet project, and performing commercial survey work throughout New Zealand. Users can access positioning data from the LINZ reference stations through live data streams and archived data distributed over the Internet.

"Data from the existing installed Trimble NetRS reference station receivers have been highly beneficial both in terms of post-event analysis such as the recent September 2010 magnitude 7.1 earthquake near Christchurch and for monitoring ongoing tectonic movements such as the slow slip events that occur regularly on the eastern side of the North Island," said Dr. John Beavan, principal scientist at GNS.

"With the increased sample rate possibilities, low latency communication options and additional frequency channels that the Trimble NetR9 receiver provides, LINZ and GNS will be able to provide even more valuable positioning information, both in support of surveying and geospatial applications and for geoscience and natural hazards research in New Zealand."

The Trimble NetR9 reference receiver offers an industry-leading 440 channels for robust, unrivaled GNSS constellation tracking. The receiver supports a wide range of satellite signals, including GPS and GLONASS signals. The receiver is capable of tracking the experimental Galileo GIOVE-A and GIOVE-B test satellites for signal evaluation and test purposes.

WELLINGTON — New Zealand media lashed the nation's "embarrassingly bad" cricket team Monday after Pakistan routed the Black Caps within three days in the first Test at Hamilton.

"New year - same old horror story," the back page of the New Zealand Herald declared, adding that Sunday's thumping 10-wicket defeat was a depressing start to a much-trumpeted new era under coach John Wright.

Wellington's Dominion Post also highlighted the scale of the challenge facing the former India coach and Black Caps captain Wright, who was appointed last month following one-day series losses in Bangladesh and India.

"It's a Wright shambles," the newspaper thundered, saying there was no excuse for New Zealand's capitulation at home against a depleted Pakistan team of "dubious quality".

Criticism focused on New Zealand's second innings batting, when the Black Caps crumbled to be all out for 110, losing four wickets for one run at one stage, to hand Pakistan a crushing victory.

"There's almost no need to belittle them, because the second innings batting figures do that all on their own," the Dominion Post said.

The Herald's chief sports writer David Leggat said the batmen lacked judgement and threw away their wickets.

"Some of the strokes were daft, others plain dumb.... New Zealand offered nothing. They simply rolled over," he wrote, describing the display as "embarrassingly bad".

Veteran cricket commentator Bryan Waddle questioned whether New Zealand could recover to salvage something from the two-Test series, which resumes in Wellington on Saturday.

"I?ve seen some depressing results in the past but mostly overseas not at home," he told Radio Sport. "There?s not much time to restore the sense of pride and commitment (needed) to accept the challenge that this Pakistan side poses."

National news agency NZPA said Wright could take comfort in a creditable display by New Zealand's bowlers on a flat pitch but conceded it was difficult to find positives in such an overwhelming defeat.

"In a quiet moment, (he) must have wondered what he had let himself in for," it said.

Actually the Pakistan team came here with the New Zealand team suffering the first "first class team" defeat by Bangladesh and made statements along the lines of thrashing the New Zealand team while they are down.

Of course the 20-20 matches that followed didn't really reflect that.

Anyone who thinks a defeat in one three day test means anything at all knows very little about cricket... just look at the ashes.

Aussies getting beaten then they came back in one game and then according to the commentators they regained the momentum and were going to win the last three games on the trot.

Of course they lost them both, losing the series and the Ashes to the English.

Five Eyes ‘spy fee’: New Zealand forks out over $100mn annually for intel funding

The taxpayers in New Zealand are spending $103 million a year on intelligence as a kind of membership fee for the country to be part of the Five Eyes surveillance club together with the US, UK, Australia and Canada, a declassified report said.

Hundreds of proposals have been sent in to New Zealand's government following a request for a new flag, including many featuring the flightless Kiwi bird, one of the country's national symbols.

A project by the New Zealand government to choose a new flag for the country is underway; 850 of the designs that have been sent in by New Zealanders are already featured on the government's website ahead of a referendum on the issue next year.

The closing date for submissions is July 16, as part of a process to choose a new flag which was instituted by the New Zealand government in October 2014, called the "Flag Consideration Project."

Kiwi Nation: design submitted by Andrew McMillan from Canterbury. "This flag combines elements of the current New Zealand flag, the Maori flag, and what is arguably our most identifiable national symbol, the Kiwi."

"Our flag is the most important symbol of our national identity and I believe that this is the right time for New Zealanders to consider changing the design to one that better reflects our status as a modern, independent nation," said Prime Minister John Key in a statement in October.

The country's current flag is the New Zealand Blue Ensign, which features the Union Jack in the upper left corner, and four stars on the right which represent the Southern Cross, or Crux constellation, which is only visible from the Southern Hemisphere, and "signify our place in the South Pacific Ocean," says the New Zealand Ministry of Culture about the current flag.

"Its royal blue background is reminiscent of the blue sea and sky surrounding us," explains the Ministry. "The Union Flag recognizes our historical foundations and that New Zealand was once a British colony and dominion."

Sheep and Hokey Pokey: design submitted by Jesse Gibbs from Canterbury. "This design represents all of NZ because we have lots of sheep and love hokey pokey ice cream. I even included the blue and red to keep all of you naysayers happy. Kiwi as bro."

In September a shortlist of four designs will be selected by a panel, after which a postal referendum will determine the preferred alternative to the current flag. A second postal referendum, held in March 2016, will be held to decide between the alternative and the current flag.

Whakapehapeha: design submitted by Paul from Canterbury. "Basis is bringing together traditions of Southern Cross and more recent Tino Rangatiratanga symbols (reversed to reflect long white cloud or sea, as well as a fern) - but adopting new colour (green) uses in neither to symbolise our land and new beginnings."

Gains: design submitted by Logan Wu from Wellington. "New Zealand has come a long way since colonialization in many ways. The icons in this flag are representative of our achievements from the successful implantation of Maori culture in the mountains of the individual cultures that make up our multiculturalism, to the freedom of expression enjoyed by all, including the national pastimes that have replaced the Southern Cross."

"Retaining the current flag is a possible outcome of this process and the consideration of options will be done carefully, respectfully and with no presumption in favor of change," said the Prime Minister.

New Zealand is not the first ex-British colony currently proposing a reworked flag. In February, the government of Fiji announced it will remove the Union Jack from its flag, and intends to make a decision on a new design in time for the 45th anniversary of the country's independence in October, where it will be hoisted after a national competition to produce a new design. Canada, which once also had a flag featuring the Union Jack, adopted the current 'maple leaf' flag in 1965.

What tinpot shithole changes flag just because it is bored and has nothing better to do...

I mean we have had the current flag for over a century an now some aholes want to change it because they suddenly think it looks too much like Australias flag.

I wont recognise any flag but our current one.

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

The New Zealand government-appointed Flag Consideration Panel, charged with looking at over 10,000 publically submitted proposals for a new national flag, has whittled down the list of submissions to a shortlist of 40 designs.

The 16-person panel will now subject the shortlist to further examination and scrutiny, including extensive intellectual property checks, reducing it to four designs, which will then be voted on in a national referendum between late November and early December of this year.

An open letter signed by the panel's members stated that new flag must be "unmistakably" New Zealand's, noting that the design must be "timeless, can work in a variety of contexts, are simple, uncluttered, balanced and have good contrast." The letter also noted that the new flag should aim to celebrate the country "as a progressive, inclusive nation that is connected to its environment, and has a sense of its past and vision for its future."

The panel said that its decision on the shortlist was guided by input it had received from "thousands of Kiwis across a range of communities" telling them "what is special to them about New Zealand."

The 40-design shortlist of flags which might replace New Zealand's current flag following national referendums to be held later this year and in March 2016.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who authored the initiative to change the flag, is said to favor a silver fern design to replace the present flag.

As the New Zealand Herald explains, the silver fern is believed by many New Zealanders to be emblematic of the country, much like the maple leaf is widely considered to symbolize Canada. The symbol is widely used by sports teams, by the military, and by emergency services, and is present on the country's money, on passports, and on the planes of the country's national airline.

Other popular symbols include the Southern Cross constellation, which is present on the current flag alongside the Union Jack, and the Koru, an unfurling silver fern frond symbolizing new life, growth, strength and peace.

The flag-changing initiative has been subject to some public criticism over its cost, estimated at NZ$26 million (equivalent to about $17.09 million US). Opposition Labour Party leader Andrew Little argued recently that the second referendum should be abandoned if the first attracts less than half of eligible voters.

Pax Zwanikken, a Sydney, Australia-based New Zealander who submitted roughly 20 flag designs, saw two of his proposals make the shortlist of 40. The graphic designer told The Guardian that while "there is a strong sentiment that this process isn't something the public really asked for at this time…it's happening now so I think we should turn our energy towards making sure that this money isn't wasted and that we take the opportunity to create something good out of it."

Following the referendum set to take place later this year, a second referendum will be held in March 2016, when New Zealanders will choose between the existing flag and the new design. New Zealand's current flag was formally adopted in 1902.

No self respecting country just decides it does not like its flag after 100 odd years and to change it.

No new flag will be respected in this house.

Key is full of shit... a binding referendum costing 20 odd million dollars to change something that does not need to be changed... I remember a non binding referendum where the people of NZ said no to state asset sales Key ignored it.

The funny thing is that I just updated my drivers licence and I see the New Zealand flag is on it... any change will cost a fortune. For nothing.

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

I see NZ is serving as a nice puppet for murika. Dangerous . I wonder if they tested it before in 2004 and 2011.

'Tsunami bomb' tested off New Zealand coast

The United States and New Zealand conducted secret tests of a "tsunami bomb" designed to destroy coastal cities by using underwater blasts to trigger massive tidal waves.

The tests were carried out in waters around New Caledonia and Auckland during the Second World War and showed that the weapon was feasible and a series of 10 large offshore blasts could potentially create a 33-foot tsunami capable of inundating a small city.

The top secret operation, code-named "Project Seal", tested the doomsday device as a possible rival to the nuclear bomb. About 3,700 bombs were exploded during the tests, first in New Caledonia and later at Whangaparaoa Peninsula, near Auckland.

The plans came to light during research by a New Zealand author and film-maker, Ray Waru, who examined military files buried in the national archives.

"Presumably if the atomic bomb had not worked as well as it did, we might have been tsunami-ing people," said Mr Waru.

"It was absolutely astonishing. First that anyone would come up with the idea of developing a weapon of mass destruction based on a tsunami ... and also that New Zealand seems to have successfully developed it to the degree that it might have worked." The project was launched in June 1944 after a US naval officer, E A Gibson, noticed that blasting operations to clear coral reefs around Pacific islands sometimes produced a large wave, raising the possibility of creating a "tsunami bomb".

Mr Waru said the initial testing was positive but the project was eventually shelved in early 1945, though New Zealand authorities continued to produce reports on the experiments into the 1950s. Experts concluded that single explosions were not powerful enough and a successful tsunami bomb would require about 2 million kilograms of explosive arrayed in a line about five miles from shore.

"If you put it in a James Bond movie it would be viewed as fantasy but it was a real thing," he said.

"I only came across it because they were still vetting the report, so there it was sitting on somebody's desk [in the archives]."

Forty years after the joint testing, New Zealand faced a dramatic breakdown in its security ties with the US after it banned the entry of nuclear-armed ships from entering its territory during the 1980s. The dispute led to the US downgrading its relationship with New Zealand from an "ally" to a "friend".

In his new book Secrets and Treasures, Mr Waru reveals other unusual findings from the archives including Defence Department records of thousands of UFO sightings by members of the public, military personnel and commercial pilots.

Some of the accounts of the moving lights in the sky include drawings of flying saucers, descriptions of aliens wearing "pharaoh masks" and alleged examples of extraterrestrial writing.

Poll will decide which of five contenders goes up against the current design, which features the Union Jack, in a final voteThe five alternative New Zealand national flags hang in Wellington city centre to encourage residents to join the referendum.

The five alternative New Zealand national flags hang in Wellington city centre to encourage residents to join the referendum.

New Zealanders began voting on Friday to select a potential new flag from five contenders, before it considers dropping the current design.

Voters are being asked to choose between the five flag options in a postal referendum that will continue until 11 December. The winning design will then go head-to-head with the existing flag in a second referendum to be held in March next year.

Prime minister John Key has made flag reform a pet project since his conservative government won a third term late last year. He sees the current flag, with the Union Jack in the corner, as an anachronism, arguing the country needs a standard “that screams New Zealand”.

Key has also expressed frustration the flag – which features four red stars representing the Southern Cross on a dark blue background – is frequently confused with Australia’s.

Four of the five designs in the first referendum feature the fern, the informal national emblem. The fifth, dubbed “Red Peak”, consists of red, black and blue triangles with a white chevron. It was a late addition to the line up after a social media campaign for its inclusion.

An opinion poll last month predicted a design featuring a white fern on a red and blue background would win the first referendum. But separate polling suggests the existing flag is likely to decisively win the second referendum in March with about 65% of the vote.

The present flag came into use in 1901, mainly because of New Zealand’s patriotic fervour over sending soldiers to fight in the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa.

New Zealand was once part of the British empire, and although it is now independent, the Queen remains head of state. However, her power is seen as largely symbolic, with many considering the monarchy itself as a colonial relic.

New Zealand was once part of the British empire, and although it is now independent, the Queen remains head of state. However, her power is seen as largely symbolic, with many considering the monarchy itself as a colonial relic.

Colonial relic? They talk about a flag representing the people of a country... well unless we drop our entire judicial system and rewrite all our fricken laws we are basically little britain in the south pacific... just like Australia is.

the current flag represents our history and heritage.

Some dumb fucks can't tell the NZ flag from the Australian flag... let me put it simply... both flags are blue with the Union Jack in the top left corner... to tell them apart the NZ flag has four red stars depicting the southern cross. the aussie flag as more than four stars (6) and they are white.

If you can count to four and tell the difference between red and white then we don't need a new flag.

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

This option was selected for final referendum. The second referendum is planned for 3–24 March 2016. It will ask voters to choose between the current New Zealand Flag and the preferred alternative design selected in the first referendum.

New Zealand set to lose USD 100 million in NZ-Russia bilateral trade after PM's remarks on Russia-Syria involvement.http://russia-insider.com/en/new-zealand-ends-nuclear-arms-ban-invite-us-warships/ri17007

As long as Key is PM we wont have any decent relationship with Russia.

He is Americas bitch.

_________________“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion […] but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”

― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

GarryB wrote:As long as Key is PM we wont have any decent relationship with Russia.

He is Americas bitch.

Had to laugh at his admiration of the US political system, and his understanding of the Syrian conflict apparently doesn't extend past what he sees on national TV... Yet somehow, politicians like him manage to secure their country a seat on the UNSC. You or I or just about anyone else on this forum would be better qualified simply due to the fact we use the internet to gather information, rather than rely on the Idiot Box.

On Tuesday, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced his approval for the USS Sampson to take part in the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th anniversary celebration next month. The visit by the USS Sampson will mark the first time a US warship has visited the country in 33 years.